GM Steel plans revealed: $450m ‘green’ steel mill proposed for Toowoomba

When construction is complete, the steel mill will run 24-hours a day and produce about 350,000 tonnes of low-carbon steel rebar every year.

Concept designs for GM Steel's planned Toowoomba green steel mill off Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Road in Wellcamp. Credit: Dezine

A plan to build Queensland’s first new steel mill in more than 30 years in Toowoomba has taken a key step forward, with plans lodged to the council to secure approval.

Brisbane company GM Steel has submitted an extensive application with the Toowoomba Regional Council for its proposed $450m “green” steel manufacturing facility, based across an 87ha of land off Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Rd in Wellcamp.

The facility itself, which will cover 4.8 hectares of gross floor space and reach heights of nearly 50m, will run 24 hours a day and produce about 350,000 tonnes of low-carbon steel rebar every year once operational.

Rebar is a tension device added to concrete to strengthen it as part of building projects, making it a key material in the construction sector.

According to the report by Precinct Urban Planning, the project will support nearly 200 direct jobs across three shifts to create construction material with lower emissions than traditional steel mills.

GM Steel co-founder Alan Morgan (right) at Danieli's head office in Italy.

“The development seeks to provide a low emission steel mill that utilises scrap steel sourced from throughout southeast Queensland to manufacture approximately 350,000 tonnes of recycled steel product per annum, to be used by the construction industry within the Toowoomba region and the broader southeast Queensland and Darling Downs regions,” the report said.

“The development will provide a major financial gain to the Queensland economy by removing the current arrangements of exporting scrap steel and importing recycle steel products.

“In addition, the proposed low emission steel mill uses an electric arc furnace (EAF) system that has lower levels of offsite emissions than traditional steel mills.”

An assessment into the project’s greenhouse gas emissions by environmental consultant ViridAU projected the Toowoomba steel mill could produce potentially 3.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its 30-year lifespan, with much of that coming from the consumption of electricity.

“It is clearly evident that scope two (indirect) emissions is the biggest contributor among the assessed sources, with their contribution up to 98 per cent of the annual total emissions for each year,” the report said.

“This is attributed to electricity consumed from the grid for the steel making process through EAF.

Concept designs for GM Steel's planned Toowoomba green steel mill off Toowoomba-Cecil Plains Road in Wellcamp. Credit: Dezine

“Although scope two emissions are sizeable, EAF technology is less carbon intensive when compared to traditional steel making methods.”

After GM Steel lodged the application in late July, the council responded to it last month with an extensive action notice alleging it could not be accepted as “properly made” to range of issues.

These included deficiencies with the form itself, a lack of detail with site plans, floor plans, elevations and the project’s location in relation to surrounding localities.

The developer has since responded with amended documents to address these concerns.

Speaking to News Corp in March, GM Steel director Alan Morgan said the mill would support nearly 400 jobs during construction and about 500 both directly and indirectly once operational.

“It’s enough to supply more than 50 per cent of Queensland’s steel requirements each year, just in time to supply unprecedented demand for steel products associated with the state’s Big Build,” he said.

“Using Danieli’s Electric Arc Furnace digital technology to produce steel reduces carbon-emissions by 85 per cent compared with conventional methods such as coal-fired blast furnaces base.”

Queensland both exports 80 per cent of its scrap metal overseas and imports it back as rebar from southeast Asia.